Reintroductions
by TamariChan
Summary: Kel meets Zahir again, but this time things are a little different. Written for the Ficmas Exchange at Goldenlake, for Seek!


**Disclaimer: The world and characters of Tortall are Tammy's, not mine!  
Written as part of the Ficmas Exchange at Goldenlake. This is for Seek!**

**Prompt:** 5. Kel/Zahir  
_The direction of my thoughts went along the line of desert romance, and sometime after they've both earned their shields._

There was sand and wind in her hair as the storm whipped up around her. Peachblossom pranced underneath her, but all she focused on was the winding path ahead of her and the whine of the storm.

"Kel!"

She squinted and broke into a grin, not even caring about the sand in her teeth.

A familiar figure stood a few hundred feet away. She wouldn't have recognized him through the storm, except for his hands glowing with green fire.

"Neal!" she shouted, but it was lost in the wind.

Quickly, she rode up toward Neal. Tents started appearing through the sand in the air, but she kept looking forward.

She jumped off of Peachblossom and stumbled through the sand toward Neal, tugging her horse with her. Her best friend hugged her tightly and dodged Peachblossom's mouth in the same movement.

"Thanks, Kara," Neal said.

Kel looked up and saw a few people clustered around to shield the group from the wind. She couldn't tell who they were, with their burnooses pulled over their heads, but Neal seemed to know them.

One of the people lowered their hood and smiled at Kel. It was a woman, to Kel's surprise, wearing a veil as thin as gossamer that didn't cover her large dark eyes.

"My pleasure, Nealan," the woman said. "I'm Kara, one of the shamans of the Bloody Hawk. We've been expecting you, Lady Knight. "

"Oh?" Kel said. "I hadn't realized... His Majesty only informed me the day I left." She started to rummage in her pack on Peachblossom's back, but Kara stopped her with a shake of the head.

"We can go over that later," Kara said. "Come on, we'll get you to a tent and your horse taken care of."

Kel noticed, belatedly, that the storm was being kept off of them by several of the hooded people accompanying Kara and Neal.

One of the men kept turning to her and back as they walked. She couldn't see his face, but she could picture his mouth opening and closing. She was used to it, after that silly nickname her friends had started spreading around - _Protector of the Small, indeed_! - but she hadn't expected it here in the desert.

"Yes?" she said.

The wind cut off suddenly as the group entered a very large tent. Her voice sounded tinny in the quiet, and all of the Bazhir who had come with Neal took off their hoods.

"It's been a long time, Lady Knight," said the man, who looked very young in the dim light of the tent.

It was Zahir, Joren's old friend.

Kel's face fell blank as a reflex. She wasn't quite sure how to feel. She hadn't seen Zahir in a very long time - the last was probably only a glimpse in the mess hall, long after he had parted ways with the rest of her old tormentors.

"It has," she said, guarded. "How have you been?"

Neal raised an arched eyebrow at her in question. She ignored him.

"I've been well," he said. He did not elaborate. Kel guessed it was because of Neal, judging by the frequent challenging looks they threw each other.

"I'll make you something to eat, you must be exhausted." Neal cut into the silence when the tension in the air started to thicken. He bustled through the group and over to her packs.

"Yes," she said, somewhat distracted by Zahir's very dark eyes, still focused on her. She shifted her weight from side to side. Her chest felt uncomfortable, but it wasn't completely a bad uncomfortable, more like hot ribbons.  
_  
Neal would call them butterflies,_ she thought as her insides squirmed some more. _But that's ridiculous. Zahir is a bully._

Or was.

Neal handed a plate of cold food to Kel, and she sat to eat it mechanically. Kara and her un-introduced companions seated themselves in a circle on the ground beside her. Zahir seemed unsure of what to do.

He settled with an awkward crouch, and Kel had to stifle a laugh at seeing the sophisticated, elegant Bazhir knight in such a strange position.

"So what, exactly," Kel said, forcing her thoughts and her eyes back to Neal, "are two young knights doing up here in the desert?"

Neal smirked. "You don't know?"

"Obviously not," Zahir said.

Neal stopped smirking.

Somehow during this conversation, Kara and the others slipped away and the strange, unlikely trio was left.

"I'm here to help train a new healer," Neal said. His posture was stiffer than it had been, and his tone sharper. "Zahir is here to collect something - he would never say what. I assume it has something to do with what you've brought."

Kel nodded, twice, but was unsure what to say so she said nothing._ There must have been an argument or something going on between them before I arrived._

They finished their simple meal in silence, before Neal stood up.

"Kel," he said. "As reluctant as I am to leave my best friend in the company of such a scoundrel-" he ignored Zahir's scowl - "I need to go check up on my apprentice. Be good, children!"

He left the tent.

"The storm's died down," Kel said, filling the silence that was somehow more awkward with two than three.

"It has." Zahir stretched out his legs and glanced over at Kel with the same intense look he had used earlier.

"So what have you been up to in these years I've been busy but then the king-"

"Shh," said Zahir, suddenly a lot closer, as he had shifted over and now sat back on his knees in front of Kel. She swallowed, ribbons fluttering hotly in her chest again.

"You'll be in the desert for a while, won't you?" he said, not pausing for an answer. "There'll be lots of time to talk. "

"Yeah," she said. Her voice was too soft. She didn't like it.

He leaned closer. She couldn't look away.

"You know something," he said, leaning closer still until she could have counted his eyelashes. "When I heard you were the one coming to meet me, I couldn't wait, and I didn't know why."

"Why?" She could feel her palms starting to sweat. This was Zahir, a bully, like Joren... but he'd been the king's squire, and the king wouldn't choose someone like Joren. _Would he?_

"Well, that's the thing. I've figured it out." He leaned so close their foreheads nearly touched, and paused.

Her heart was beating like mad, and she'd given up on rational thought.

"I like you rather a lot, Keladry of Mindelan, and I'd like nothing better than to get to know you -_ properly_," he finished finally.

Zahir's hand grazed her cheek. She took two shaky breaths, and he kissed her.

It was sweet and soft and very welcome, and much too short. She raised her eyebrows as he pulled away.

"That's all?" she said, in a teasing but rather breathless tone.

"I wouldn't want to tarnish your reputation," he said with a slow dark grin. "And besides, we've got time."


End file.
